Dhaka, March 16 (bdnews24.com) – Mohammad Ashraful Sunday allegedly slapped a spectator for swearing at him during the Premier Cricket Twenty20 final match between Abahani and City Club at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium (SBNS) in Mirpur.

Ashraful was on way to the Indoor Complex for practice from the SBNS gym when some 100 spectators, who were watching the final match, called the national team captain 'bhua' (rubbish).

A security guard, however, claimed that the spectators had verbally abused him from a close distance.

Ashraful reportedly lost his cool and slapped a boy named Jalal, a garment worker, on the gate that connects the SBNS with the Indoor Complex.

The spectators reacted angrily and demanded justice before the police intervened and pacified them.

Ashraful denied having slapped the spectator. "Nothing happened," was all he would say to the reporters on the alleged incident.

The spectators later cheered Aftab Ahmed, Shahadat Hossain and others on their way to the complex.

National pacer Mashrafee Bin Mortaza had reacted sharply to a spectator's comment in the practice on the eve of the second one-dayer against South Africa on March 12.

"Everyone has a limit to tolerate. It is not possible to keep yourself in check when you hear people abusing your parents," said Mashrafee Sunday about that incident.

The incident has also raised concerns over the security of the cricketers as the spectators get the chance to get alarmingly close to the national cricketers during the nets. Some of them even throw invectives at the players for lacklustre performance.

A few spectators with placards had also demanded resignation of Ashraful after the third and final one-dayer against South Africa on March 14 outside the Mirpur Stadium.

A college student even managed to enter the post-match briefing to query Ashraful harshly.

"The security committee of the Bangladesh Cricket Board looks after these things," said AKM Jaki, administrator of the stadium.

"From now cricketers will not be allowed to go anywhere without police protection and we have conveyed the message to the team management after the incident," vice chairman of the BCB security committee Imroz Ahmed told bdnews24.com by phone. "We heard so many ruthless words but never reacted to the spectators," said former national captain-turned-selector Naimur Rahman Durjoy, who was also there in the stadium.